In This Small Ukrainian Village, Everyone Now Owns Cryptocurrency

According to reports by local media outlets, all residents at the small Ukrainian village Elizavetovka in the Dnipropetrovsk region are said to now own some crypto.

It was reported that local deputies decided to allow the chairman of the council, Maxim Golosnoy, “to carry out operations with cryptocurrency in the interests of the territorial community without attracting budgetary funds”. Akcent Media added that Golosnoy “figured out how to replenish the local budget with the help of cryptocurrency”.

Many speculate that this move is an experiment that is meant to earn money for the community. Elizavetovka is now the first village in Ukraine where its residents own digital currency.

Moreover, the village reportedly accepts bitcoin, cardano and ether as payment for buying meat, eggs, milk, lard and other grocery items.

Crypto Investment for The Village

Golosnoy invested in 13,000 hryvnias ($494 USD) in Cardano, which he now provides roughly 1,500 of his residents with.

According to reports, Golosnoy repaid himself with the 13,000 hyrvnias after after the value of his investment went up by 39,000 or roughly $1,480. Golosnoy claims he had set aside the rest of the cryptos for his residents saying, “from now on, each villager is an owner of several crypto units”.
Although the resident’s cryptocurrency is under Golosnoy’s care for now, he assured the villagers that they can cash out their coins any time they want. The residents, however, said they are in no hurry to cash out because they still do not understand what cryptocurrency is and how it could benefit them.

Just to be clear, Golosnoy has invested his personal funds in cryptocurrency and not the village budget. Akcent Media noted that Golosnoy plans to appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to invest the future budget money. He wants to show the whole country that a small investment such as this can earn on its own instead of drawing money from the state treasury.

According to Golosnoy, the village budget has a surplus of “3-4 million hryvnia” every year, and he hopes that part of the revenues could be at least invested in cryptocurrencies, under approval of the supervisory authorities and the community.

As of now, Ukraine has no legal framework for cryptocurrencies. However, The State Monitoring Service of Ukraine has released its official position on cryptocurrencies in March. Three draft bills have been introduced since then but none has been adopted.